MadridEulàlia Flo (Badalona, 1967) landed at Equinix Spain as CEO just over a year ago. His professional life has always been linked to the digital and technological world, through companies such as Dell or Capgemini. He knows closely, then, the transformation of a sector that in a few years has gone from the expansion of personal computers to the deployment of artificial intelligence and the construction of data centers. In fact, it is the latter industry, that of data centers, that now holds his job at the American multinational. The board receives the ARA in Madrid shortly after inaugurating Data Center BA2, a new data center in Hospitalet de Llobregat.
They have just inaugurated a new data center in Catalonia, the second that Equinix has. Why?
— Barcelona plays a very relevant role in terms of the interconnection between continents. The major traffic was until recently between America and Europe, but the global south is becoming more and more important, and therefore the connection with countries in Africa and the East. More and more cables will arrive [submarins] from Africa, which will be able to connect with America through the Iberian Peninsula. Therefore, Barcelona will play an important role in the Mediterranean and decongest Marseille, which is now the main one hub.
For those unfamiliar with a data center, what is it?
— It’s like a hotel. we offer [a les empreses interessades] a space, with security measures and an interconnection capacity. In the first center of Barcelona, for example, we have more than 50 communications operators and what we are doing is that the digital experience can reach the entire population. What matters in the end is that Netflix or WhatsApp can be accessed from the last village in Catalonia to the big city.
What is its expansion linked to?
— In a hyperconnected world there must be a space [físic] where the different digital operators converge. Therefore, all computers that provide digital experiences must have a physical location. For example, if you open WhatsApp, [el missatge] it must go from the telephone operator to Meta [WhatsApp] and then the telephone provider you are communicating with. This requires data storage capacity, but also interconnection.
Why are data centers strategic?
— Catalan companies that want to expand internationally must also expand their digital presence. Equinix, for example, is in 70 metropolitan regions and companies expanding internationally can find us there. They can do this expansion in low latency and connect with the entire digital ecosystem. at the same time, [els centres] they attract companies that need to have a physical space nearby to provide the service, that don’t just want to be in the cloud. And for submarine cables. The centers make it possible to attract this interconnection between the different continents.
It is an industry that is in the spotlight for its energy consumption.
— There will not be a problem, neither in Catalonia nor in Spain, of energy resulting from the data centers. Digitization requires energy and electric makes the most sense. In fact, decarbonisation must be linked to electrification. the consumption [elèctric]however, is falling and utilities see data centers as an opportunity. The problem is not that there is no generation [elèctrica] in Spain to respond to strong growth [de la demanda] in a short time, but the planning that is being done of the electricity network, which is not being designed for what this industry needs. Green hydrogen, car electrification… All require a change in electricity grid planning and we are working with government to see how our needs can be reflected.
Can investments be lost without this planning?
— Yes, obviously.
This transformation requires many more renewables.
— There is a debate here as to whether the new players, such as data centers, should be attached to renewables. At Equinix, we think we need to be close to consumers and businesses, and that doesn’t mean being tied to technology [renovable]. Obviously it is important that there are renewables, but whether they are near or far from the data centers I think is not so important.
What future plans does Equinix have in Catalonia?
— Our strategy is to be in those metropolitan regions where there is a lot of demand and there is a lot of it in Barcelona. Now one of the trends is artificial intelligence and it is an opportunity to attract companies, such as big technology companies, that want to be close to the Catalan market. Catalonia has a very important entrepreneurial ecosystem, also linked to health and life sciences, and we hope that this can attract companies that decide to locate their hubs of research here and that they need us.
Will Equinix continue to invest in Barcelona?
— Now we have built the BA2. We have the capacity to double the space and I am confident of doing a BA3 or a BA4. It will be important to have the right support, especially from the administrations, so that when we make the decision to develop the next data center we can do it quickly. We hope to be able to announce the construction of another data center in Barcelona shortly.
Has Barcelona also fostered qualified human capital?
— Yes, that always helps. It takes a lot of engineers to make everything work. We don’t only have profiles of university students, but there are also many profiles of Vocational Training students, which is a very important bet.
Has the change of Government in Catalonia accelerated the plans?
— I would like to see the government of Catalonia more concerned about the sector. We have seen other governments that are more clear that the digital infrastructure is critical for the country and we would like to find this interest, which perhaps in recent years we have not experienced so directly.
Do you feel that there are more and more rivals?
— I think there is room for different players, although some may not have grasped the complexity of managing a service like the data center. It’s more complex than erecting a building, think there are companies that have to run 24/7 and need that connection all the time. In addition, it is necessary to invest a lot to improve energy efficiency.
